On the sidelines of the U.N.: Hope, cocktails and efforts to be heard

By THALIA BEATY
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Across New York City, civil society groups and large philanthropies meet on the sidelines of the United Nations while world leaders gather at the annual General Assembly. Nonprofit organizations send their senior leaders at significant expense to make sure their voices are heard in the right rooms. Activists come from around the world to try to influence the decisions of international politicians. Many staffers who keep NGOs running day-to-day gather to chart new paths forward. This year, many civil society groups are taking steps and making plans themselves to try to push progress forward on the Sustainable Development Goals. That’s even as politicians made few new major commitments.